EPlus, Microsoft, Getty Images, WIPO: Intellectual Property

By Victoria Slind-Flor -
Nov 23, 2012

EPlus Inc. (PLUS) can pursue a modified
order limiting certain sales of Lawson Software Inc. products
after a U.S. appeals court upheld part of a patent-infringement
ruling over software for supply chain management.

Lawson infringed one of five patent claims asserted by
EPlus, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled
Nov. 21.

The court said two claims were invalid, while the other two
weren’t infringed. It remanded the case to the trial judge for a
modification of an order to halt further infringement. The court
also upheld the judge’s decision to preclude EPlus from seeking
damages in the trial.

The case is EPlus v. Lawshot Software, 11-01396, U.S. Court
of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Washington).

Microsoft Seeks to Patent System to Base Fees on Viewer Numbers

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), the largest software company in the world,
is seeking a patent on a technology that would enable content-
owners to monitor the number of users consuming content or
playing a game.

According to application 20120278904, the content owner
would then be able to restrict access if the viewers or players
exceeded the licensed number.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said in the application
that content owners can already place some restrictions on
downloaded content, such as limiting the amount of time it is
available for use, or the number of times it can be viewed.

The technology covered by the patent would expand this, by
enabling content owners to restrict content on a per-user view
basis. This would involve the use of a camera of other capture
device to be used as a consumer detector, Microsoft said in its
application.

Microsoft filed its patent application in April 2011.

For more patent news, click here.

Trademarks

Getty Images Loses EU Court Challenge Over Photos.com Trademark

Getty Images Inc. lost a European Union court appeal over
its attempt to gain trademark protection for the name of its
photos.com service.

The EU’s General Court upheld a decision by the EU’s
trademark office to reject an application to protect the term
photos.com because the words were “devoid of distinctive
character,” according to a Nov. 21 ruling.

The case is T-338/11 Getty Images Inc. v. Office for
Harmonization in the Internal Market.

Mexico Joins Madrid Protocol International Trademark System

The Madrid Protocol, established in 1989, offers a
trademark owner the possibility to have a trademark protected in
several countries by simply filing one application directly with
the owner’s national or regional trademark office.

An international mark registered under the protocol, is
equivalent to an application or registration in each of the
protocol’s member countries the applicant designates.

According to WIPO Director General Francis Gurry, Mexico is
the third Latin American country to join this system.

Facebook Taking a Look at ‘Facefood’ Cafe in Wales, BBC Says

The cafe, in a suburb of Cardiff, has a facade that
strongly resembles the logo of the Menlo Park, California-based
social-media company, according to the BBC.

Facefood Manager Samir Bougaci told the BBC that there were
similarly named cafes in other countries and the name of his
cafe used “different words” from Facebook’s.

He acknowledged that his company hadn’t sought or received
permission from Facebook to use the name, the BBC reported.

For more trademark news, click here.

Copyright

Chapel Club Says It’s OK to Make Money by Remixing Its Song

Chapel Club, a U.K. pop band, has invited fans to make a
copy of one of its songs, remix it and sell it.

In a blog posting, Stephen Taverner, the band’s manager,
said that after Chapel Club parted ways with Universal Music
Group Inc. the band “wanted to do something non-traditional in
what is still a very traditional industry.”

In what Taverner terms “The Remix Project,” fans can
download what he called the “stems” of Chapel Club’s “Good
Together” and remix it. He said that whoever releases a remix
“gets to keep all of the master income from sales,
synchronization and any third-party licensing.”

The only restriction the band is placing is that the band
retains approval rights over where the remix is synchronized,
Taverner said.

Marylander Pleads Guilty in $4 Million Infringement Case

A Maryland resident pleaded guilty to criminal copyright
infringement involving commercial software programs, the U.S.
Justice Department said in a statement.

Naveed Sheikh, 32, pleaded guilty to three counts of
infringement and conspiracy committed by reproducing more than
1,000 commercial software programs worth $4 million. These were
sold through multiple websites, the government said, with Sheikh
warning customers the programs weren’t legal and couldn’t be
registered with the companies that developed the software.

According to the government statement, Sheikh rented
computer server space in Pennsylvania and hosted websites
through which he sold the software on computers in Pennsylvania
and Maryland. He used a credit-card processing system from a
defunct business previously owned by his family, and used
services such as Western Union to transmit money outside the
U.S., particularly to Pakistan, the government said.

Court documents indicate that Sheikh attempted to conceal
his activities by using the names “Turkish Lamps,” “Ruby
Corp.” and “Laundryland.” The latter was at one time a
storefront laundromat in Baltimore operated by Sheik’s family
members.

During the investigation stage of the case, Sheikh claimed
that the infringement was done by another person, and, according
to court documents, he created fake recorded conversations with
this person. He also left the U.S. for Pakistan without giving
the government notice, and when he returned, he was found to be
carrying a computer containing evidence of his illegal actions,
the government said.

He faces a sentence of as many as five years in prison and
$250,000 fine for each of three counts. As part of the plea
agreement, he must forfeit $4 million. Sentencing is set for
Feb. 19.

The case is U.S. v. Sheikh, 1:10-cr-00713-RDB, U.S.
District Court, District of Maryland (Baltimore).

For more copyright news, click here.

Trade Secrets/Industrial Espionage

Baker & McKenzie to Conduct Trade Secrets Survey for EU

European Commission has contracted with the international
firm of Baker & McKenzie LLP to conduct a study on the economic
and legal aspects linked with the use, misappropriation and
litigation on confidential business information and trade
secrets.

According to a statement from the commission, the firm will
survey companies about how they manage their know-how and other
information of strategic value for their competitiveness.

The survey will look at companies of all sizes throughout
the European Union. The commission hopes to find whether there
is a need to provide companies with better means of redress
against the economic harm from misappropriation of proprietary
information.

Any company wishing to participate in the survey can
contact the firm through a special e-mail address:
tradesecretstudy@bakermckenzie.com. Participants will be given a
user ID, a password and a link to the webpage for the survey,
and can chose among a number of languages in which to respond to
the survey queries.